Heroes Off Screen
by AileenRoseven
Summary: Co-written with Storm Arashi: AU: They're known well for their movies… In another world this still holds true, but what's not known is how much truth there is behind this veil of the silver screen, and how much goes on that people don't know. Including these heroes just trying to lead a somewhat normal life in all the chaos. (Connected with Big Hero 6: The Phoenix.)
1. The Secret

"Avengers, assemble!"

Steve Rogers stood strong next to Natasha, looking to the new Avengers before them… least, that's what it looked like to the camera.

"And that's a wrap!"

Everyone relaxed, some looking to each other and high fiving.

Steve sighed in relief, looking to the director. The director gave a thumbs up.

"Ya did good. Just like all the other times Steve."

"I admit I still feel some stage fright even with how long we've been doing this. More so in the sense of hoping to keep the facade alive."

"And you all have." The director smiled. "The Avengers are, to the world, one of the best movie series to come out. Age of Ultron is just gonna add on to that."

"Let's be glad Ultron wasn't an actual event." Natasha chuckled. "That would be one heck of a mess to clean up."

"And a tragedy…" Steve looked to where Wanda was, seeing her embrace her brother. "Did we really have to kill Pietro?"

"Unfortunately yes… It's just what worked for the script. But hey… Give us a couple of movies… We've killed off others before."

"Seriously, is this because he ate your sandwich?" Tony Stark asked as he walked by, munching on an apple.

"... It may have been part of it… Wait, where'd you get that!?"

Tony smirked. "My secret."

"It's Tony, don't question it." Steve shrugged. "Any way… guess that means we're on vacation till Civil War."

Natasha groaned a bit.

"Don't remind me."

"Didn't say I was excited about it."

Everyone looked to the writers.

"What?"

Tony cringed. "I'm not looking forward to that… Besides… Didn't we already HAVE one of those?"

"Gentlemen with all due respect no one wants to watch two hours of fighting over oreos."

Everyone burst out laughing.

"Alright boys that's enough." the director clapped. "Just be glad it's not for real "Robert"."

"True, true. Right "Chris"?"

"Right." Steve chuckled. "Remind me how we decided on names again? We have like three Chris actors running around this place."

"... I forgot. I thought you guys picked out of a hat."

"Not to mention for awhile it was easier to just call all of you "Chris 1, Chris 2, Chris 3…" Natasha added.

"Scarlet though?"

Natasha smirked flipping her hair a bit. "Come on now it has to be obvious to you now."

"And it just never ends." The director shook his head. "Okay kids, go home and relax. We'll come back and regroup when we're ready for the next film."

"Don't need to tell us twice!"

"FREEDOM!"

"... You know… I feel bad for Pepper. Tony's as hyper as a kid on sugar."

"She's just a boss like that." Steve chuckled, heading on out, already undoing a bit of his costume armor chest plate. "Though I'm with him on freedom, I need a break before the next film."

"I believe we all are in the need of that. It's been a bit too quiet." Thor remarked, heading out as well, twirling his hammer a bit. "Need to make sure my brother hasn't decided to terrorize people again."

"Good plan!"

 _Who would've thought we were all in on the same secret..._

"Hey, Steve." Natasha nudged him. "You've been calling that nurse like I asked, right?"

He blushed a bit.

"You little…"

"Well?"

"... We have our first real date this upcoming week."

Natasha smirked. "Oh? What is it? Dinner? Movie?"

"Dinner is in there… but the first part… We're going dancing."

"... Awww! That is so sweet!"

"Way to score, Steve." Tony patted his back. "We're all so proud!"

Steve just blushed more.

"What are you guys, my parents?"

Tony and Natasha gave serious looks.

"Yes."

"Oh Tony, our little Steve is growing up!"

He was red now.

"Ah look at him! Red as my cape!" Thor laughed.

"Congrats!" Pietro yelled as he ran by. "Be sure to treat her like a real lady."

"Just be you." Wanda added as she followed after her brother.

"It's what the girls like." Bruce walked up, having overheard. "They like honest men."

"And strong men." Pietro smirked. "You got both going for you."

"Well, let's not forget." Thor held up his hammer. "I'm the strongest around."

"I thought Torunn could lift that thing without issue."

Thor got a proud look.

"Almost two years old and she's making me proud my little girl."

Tony smiled. "They grow up so fast don't they? Audra's already trying learning how to talk… Swear she was tiny enough to fit in one of my suit hands just yesterday…"

"So let's see…" Natasha hummed. "I have an Iron Man baby, I have an Asgardian baby, I have three Hawkeye babies…" She looked to Bruce and Steve. "I'm still waiting on you two!"

Both turned bright red.

"Oh come on!"

"I-it takes time! I wanna be married first!"

"Same!"

Natasha smirked.

"I'll wait as long as I need to. Though of course, I'm expecting adoption from you Bruce."

Bruce shook his head. "One of these days... Just… Need some time.."

"Like I said, I'll wait as long as I need to." Natasha nudged Steve. "For now, go meet your nurse for your date."

"Yes, "mother"." Steve chuckled… frowning a bit. "Heh… Bucky would be teasing me to high heaven right now."

"We'll find him… Though hopefully not like we did in Winter Soldier." Natasha gave a sympathetic look. "He's out there somewhere."

Steve nodded sighing a bit. "He is… I just hope we find him soon…"

"Well, since we're' on break." Natasha stretched before walking out. "I believe I have work to do. Enjoy your date."

"Don't destroy a country."

"Tell that to Tony!"

"Oi!"

Steve shook his head, chuckling.

"The biggest secret in the world and still going by some miracle."

 _And it just keeps going from here…_


	2. Longing

"Finally, a break." Tony leaned back his chair. "Acting is fun, but nothing beats real life stuff, even if we don't do all the crazy stuff in the films."

"M-hm."

"Would be cool though."

"M-hm."

Tony looked to Bruce, smirking as he noticed the man wasn't really paying attention to him. He was more focused on the bundle in his arms.

"Bruce, does Audra have you wrapped around her finger again?"

"Maybe." Bruce smiled, nuzzling the little girl.

Audra giggled, nuzzling him back, holding onto his shirt with one of her little hands.

"She loves you a lot…"

"And I love her… You're really lucky Tony…" Bruce had a warm look in his eyes as he stroked Audra's hair. "You and Pepper."

Audra nuzzled his hand giggling a bit. "Bah!"

Tony smiled softly. "We feel really blessed… She's what we wished for... Can't imagine us without her now."

"Some bad days, but still love her anyway." Bruce chuckled. "How many different cries have you deciphered concerning her needs?"

"Lessee… Hold me, feed me, I want Mommy not you, stay with me, I want JARVIS-Yes sometimes that's all she actually wants… There's a lot… And Pepper's still annoyed sometimes when I let her listen to old world rock… But it puts her out."

"She is your daughter… Wait, how does JARVIS work into this? He's just a program!"

Tony smirked.

"He plays instrumentals of the songs I sing to her, and he's addressed her since she came home, so she knows his voice. Sometimes he'll just talk to her like he does to me, even though he's admitted he can't really understand what her little babbling is. It's adorable."

"Heh… I see." Bruce kissed Audra's head, rocking the girl gently. "Just glad she likes me too…"

Audra cuddled close to him yawning a little. "Bwaaah…"

"She loves you… You're her uncle… Why wouldn't she? You're good with her."

"I try." Bruce sighed happily. "And like you said… she's got me wrapped around her finger."

Tony chuckled. "Welcome to the club... One day you'll get to have that too.. 'Sides… I'm sure her and the other kids would love a cousin."

"Hopefully… I'd give anything to have this… Betty and I both did… Betty…" Bruce got a bit of a sad look in his eyes.

Tony frowned, squeezing his shoulder. "You'll find her again… Time heals…"

"Yeah… After Harlem I just couldn't bring myself to go back. Though can you blame me? My potential father in law had tanks pointed at me."

"... Yeah that was something I cannot blame you for. But people do change… And from what you've told me, Betty probably would shank him if he tried that crap now."

"She was ready to shank him when the first stuff happened." Bruce brought a hand to his face. "I think she was borderline ready to just remove herself from him if necessary."

Tony cringed. "Oh geeze… Sorry…"

"If there was any of our movies that were true to what happened to us, mine was almost spot on." Bruce sighed. "It's been years now… hard to believe that."

"But you're not the same guy who couldn't control it. You're a far cry from how it was back then. You're in control and you KNOW how to cool down… You're a good person Bruce."

"Try to be." Bruce looked at Audra, seeing the girl fast asleep. "I just wouldn't blame Betty if she found someone again."

Tony squeezed his shoulder again. "Well you never know until you try… Goodness knows THAT little one wouldn't be here to fall asleep on ya if I hadn't tried with Pepper."

"Yeah…" Bruce smiled. "Remind me, Steve had to shove you with his shield to get you to finally get on one knee to propose, right?"

Tony chuckled giving a sheepish grin.

"Yep. What can I say…? Pepper's the only woman besides Natasha to actually put the fear of the Good Lord himself in me. She's a force to be reckoned with… And I was terrified she'd say no… But she said yes in the end - I'm sure some days she questions that choice but she still sticks with me."

"She loves you, no question." Bruce smiled. "You two have just gotten closer since you got married."

"Ain't that the truth… She's the other half of my soul I swear… I can't imagine any part of my life where she wouldn't be in it. I love her that much… And she's always had my back…" He chuckled. "One big thing my first movie did get right.. She DID have to help me switch out that darn reactor. One of the bravest things she ever did."

"She's got points for that alone." Bruce shook his head. "Scared the crap out of her."

Tony laughed a bit. "And you know what? Scared the crap out of me too! I thought she was gonna faint! But she got through it… And we both survived."

"Thankfully." Bruce smiled. "And here we are now."

"Yeah… Proud mom and dad… And she threatened me with a rusty screw driver if I let her pregnancy with Aud be part of ANY movie. As far as she's concerned if they ever wanna mention my home life Audra just appeared on our doorstep."

"Isn't that how she got out of Ultron?"

"Yep. Doesn't help that the directors didn't wanna have to worry about stressing her out… Cause if that happened they know exactly WHO would be breathing down their necks for the rest of the filming."

"Yup…" Bruce smirked. "I still remember when Audra was born. You booked it out of the set like a mad man, grabbing the nearest Iron Man suit."

Tony laughed.

"Oh I was not missing it if I could. The doctors were NOT impressed when I practically crashed the thing into the side of the hospital. Thought Shay was gonna kill me! … But it was all worth it."

"Ah Dr. Sky." Bruce laughed. "She's a mom too right?"

Tony laughed. "Yep. Her daughter's only a month younger than Aud. They get along too. It's adorable."

"... Month younger… Oh gosh she was pregnant when Audra was born then!? No wonder she was ticked!"

"Right!? You would've thought I said I'd drop the kid off the Empire State Building when I walked in. She was THIS close to ripping me out of the "Tin Can" as she called it."

"I hope the husband calmed her down. Anger is not good for a pregnant woman."

"Oh he did. Once things calmed down, it was all good… And I got to be with my wife and little one." Tony looked to his daughter stroking her hair a little. "All this little one had to do was look at me and that was it… I've been wrapped around her finger since she was minutes old."

"I see." Bruce chuckled. "Well… one day… maybe I'll have that too."

"I know you will. You'll make a great dad."

"... I'll just need a hand in getting back to Betty. Not like I know someone who could help me in that department."

Tony smirked.

"You want me to hack some databases, steal some info and maybe put in a few viruses that play annoying tunes so you can see Betty in peace?"

"Just possibly." Bruce brought a fist up." Science bros?"

Tony bumped his fist with Bruce's. "Science bros."

"Bwah!"

The men both smiled, seeing Audra was awake again.

"... Someone wants to be a science girl."

Audra giggled nuzzling Bruce. "Bwah! Bwah!"

"Then science girl she shall be… After all… She is the Iron Baby."

"That's right." Bruce chuckled. "If I have a daughter who also happens to be into science, they can be the science sisters."

"Sounds like a plan. Science Bros and Science Sisters… I like the sound of that."

"You and me both." Bruce nuzzled Audra. "One day…"

 _One day..._


End file.
